Monday, August 22, 2016

Creating Rubrics for Performance Tasks Aligned to NGSS – Part 2

I created the
three-dimensional rubric below in an attempt to help get the ball rolling. I have
honestly not yet seen a rubric where the creator claims it is three-dimensional.
I’m not sure I’m there yet, so critique away! Most rubrics I’ve found only
focus on the practices, which I agree is a good place to start (see the resource list at the end of this
post). I would, however, like to see practices and crosscutting concepts
linked to content within a rubric, so I attempted to do that here. Importantly,
column three represents where a proficient student should be, while four
provides ideas for more advanced studies.

Some background on
this unit of study and the related performance task:

High
school biology students are investigating ecosystems (LS2.C), human impacts on
those ecosystems (LS4.D), and related pollution chemistry (PS1.B).

Imagining
I’m still teaching… I engage the class in this unit by having them walk over to
a nearby lake to make observations, ask questions, and take multiple water
samples, highlighting the presence of large amounts of algae if students don’t
bring it up. We meet the regional limnologist there and she briefly shares some
information about pollution in the lake system and is on hand for questions (could
alternatively Skype w/ a scientist or even watch a short watching a short video
detailing pollution challenges – such as this news story).

The next
day students discuss their observations and consider how and why the ecosystem in
their local lake may be changing. They model the ecosystem of the lake,
detailing relationships within and across biotic and abiotic elements, including
what might be causing ecosystem changes. The models provide a formative
assessment on students’ modeling ability and their background understanding of
ecosystems generally, but also within the lake context. After completion, class
sharing and discussion of those models serves to build common background
knowledge about topics such as farm runoff and other pollutants affecting the lake.

I want
to know where students are at in their ability to ask testable questions in an ecosystem
modeling framework (Practice - Asking Questions; Crosscutting Concept – Systems
and System Models). So, toward the end of that class I ask them to individually
develop questions for studying changes to the lake ecosystem, framing those
questions with the lens of the full system and available data on lake chemistry
(e.g. data like this).
I use the following rubric to score students’ individual responses before
having them revise their questions in groups the next day.

I developed goals for the unit first and then created the rubric in conjunction with creating the investigations within the unit. I want multiple opportunities to assess student learning in a more formal way through a unit, and this performance task and rubric flowed out of the progression being built. So, the goals for learning represented in the rubric were in mind throughout the process, not an afterthought.

Our
state vision for science learning in Wisconsin comes from page one of the
summary of the NRC Science Education Framework. I’d want my
assessment to provide information as to whether students are progressing toward
that vision as well as through the NGSS progression we’d laid out for the year.
The goals of this lesson, students being able to ask meaningful questions about
local water pollution and the chemical impact on ecosystems, do fit within
those broader goals.

Possibly
the most important resource for designing the rubric was Appendix F, the progression
document for the practices.
The progression detailed for grades K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12 for asking
questions provided ideas for where students should be and where they’re coming
from, supporting the development of the columns within the rubric. They provide
ideas for a developmental progression of learning without resorting to terms
like never, somewhat, and always. Specifically, based on the progressions of
the asking questions practice, I included having students connect questions to an
analysis of data and systems.

Another important
resource for designing the rubric was the NGSS Evidence Statements document.
The evidence statements provide a concrete way to break down a practice into
specific subskills, which is very useful in articulating the multiple rows of a
rubric. In my case, they were most useful in suggesting that the question needs
to be practicably testable (in the classroom) and relate to cause and effect.

Finally,
I also used Appendix G, the progression document detailing the crosscutting concept of
systems and system models.
From this progression, I pulled ideas of inputs and outputs within the system, understanding
the boundaries of the system to better formulate the question. So, the rubric pushes students to consider how
timeframes and a narrowed focus on particle chemicals and lake inputs could
lead to a better question.

I also wanted to focus on questioning as the NGSS performance expectations (PEs) have limited connections to the questioning practice (only two in middle school and two in high school). Because teachers make the mistake of using the PEs to design their instruction, I worry students won’t have as many opportunities as they should to ask questions.

I used
the idea of “with guidance” as part of the progression. It was a tough decision
to include that. I felt that if we’re talking about a true developmental
progression, the first step is often being able to do it with some help. Some
students need scaffolding to get going with a skill, and they’re not going to
be independent at first. So, I reflected that within this rubric.

Additionally,
I’d want to have student responses to the performance task to serve as examples
(anchors) of the varying levels within the rubric. I didn’t feel I could meaningfully
create those on my own, so I hope to get some teachers to try this rubric, or
something similar, and share anonymized samples of student work.

For the best
outcomes, teachers should collaboratively create these rubrics or collaboratively
refine and revise an existing rubric to meet their needs/vision. To improve
instruction for all students, it’s also essential that they collaboratively review student work in light of the rubric.
It won’t be perfect the first time! Teachers will have to improve the rubric over
time along with other elements of their instruction based on formal and
informal assessment data.

The Design-BasedImplementation Research team created a first draft of a rubric on the practiceof scientific modeling. It provides super useful details on what constitutes
effective modeling. A problem is that it’s a bit long to be useful, though
perhaps portions of it could be pulled out to assess subskills. I also don’t think
progressions of ability using language such as “does not,” “some,” and “all” is
as straightforward as denoting what students at different levels can do.

The Instructional Leadership for Science Practices group provides a series of
rubrics based on each practice that can be used to evaluate student
performance. Or, there’s another version of the rubrics that could be used by
an observer to provide teachers feedback on how the practices are being used in
his/her classroom. Though, both versions tend to focus more on what students
have the opportunity to do than what they have the capacity to do.

Arapahoe Elementary in the Adams County Five Star School District provides standards-basedgrading rubrics linked to NGSS – It gives a generic rubric template you’d use
to plug in specifics for each particular CCC or SEP or DCI, but it might not
provide sufficient information or nuances for individual SEPs, CCCs.

Edutopia provides a rubric for science projects, which has some good ideas
for progressions of abilities, but remains fairly traditional - built from “scientific
method” steps.

And, thanks to Cathy Boland, @MsBolandSci, for
sharing a rubric for explanations through Twitter - I hope others will share too!

Not science specific, but here's a nice resource by Rick Wormeli on what makes a quality rubric - https://www.amle.org/BrowsebyTopic/WhatsNew/WNDet/TabId/270/ArtMID/888/ArticleID/539/Rubrics-and-Grading-Scales.aspx